Short answer: if you were hurt on a construction site in Los Angeles or anywhere in California, you almost certainly have a workers’ compensation claim, and you may also have a separate injury lawsuit against someone other than your employer: the general contractor, another subcontractor, the property owner, or the company that made the scaffold, lift, saw, or crane that failed. Workers’ compensation pays medical care and partial wages no matter who was at fault. The third-party case is where pain and suffering, full lost earnings, and the real cost of a serious injury get paid. Most injured construction workers are never told the second case exists. It is the first thing we look for.
Free consultation, English and Spanish: (888) 772-2529. Workers’ compensation claims are handled in-house. No attorney fee unless there is a recovery.
Construction accidents in Los Angeles and across California
Los Angeles is in the middle of one of the largest building cycles in its history: high-rise and mixed-use projects downtown and on the Westside, Metro rail extensions, the LAX modernization, stadium and Olympic-related work, and thousands of residential remodels every month. Every one of those sites has several employers working at once, which is exactly the situation in which one company’s shortcut injures another company’s worker. The same is true on the ports, in the Inland Empire warehouse corridor, in the Central Valley, and on public works projects statewide. Abdi & Associates helps injured construction workers throughout California, with workers’ compensation handled directly by the firm and third-party injury claims evaluated for every client.
The two claims: workers’ compensation and the third-party lawsuit
California law closes one door and opens another. Under Labor Code sections 3600 and 3602, workers’ compensation is normally the exclusive remedy against your own employer, even when the employer was careless. But Labor Code section 3852 preserves your right to sue any other person or company whose negligence caused the injury. On a construction site, that list is long:
- General contractors and construction managers that controlled the site and its safety program
- Other subcontractors: the electrician whose live wiring shocked you, the crane crew that dropped a load, the framer who left a floor opening uncovered
- Property owners and developers who knew about a hazard on the site and did not disclose it
- Equipment and product manufacturers when a scaffold, aerial lift, ladder, nail gun, saw, harness, or crane component was defective
- Engineers and architects when a design or shoring plan was flawed
- Drivers who strike workers in or near a work zone
The two claims usually run at the same time, and they interact. The workers’ compensation carrier that paid your benefits has a lien on any third-party recovery and can claim a credit against future benefits (Labor Code sections 3856 and 3861). Settle one claim without accounting for the other and you can give back money you should have kept. Coordinating both claims is a large part of what a construction accident lawyer does. Our page on suing beyond workers’ compensation after a work injury covers the exclusive remedy exceptions, the lien and credit, and the Privette doctrine in more detail.
The narrow exceptions that let you sue your employer
Gross negligence by an employer does not, by itself, allow a civil lawsuit. The exceptions are statutory and narrow: a willful physical assault by the employer, fraudulent concealment of the injury and its connection to work, injury from a product the employer manufactured and sold to third parties (Labor Code section 3602(b)), the knowing removal of a power press guard (Labor Code section 4558), and an employer that carries no workers’ compensation insurance at all (Labor Code section 3706). The uninsured-employer exception matters on construction sites, where small subcontractors sometimes operate without coverage. If your employer was uninsured, you can sue the employer directly, the employer is presumed negligent (Labor Code section 3708), and the state’s Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund can pay the workers’ compensation benefits in the meantime.
The Privette doctrine: when the general contractor or owner is off the hook, and when it is not
The most common defense in a construction third-party case is the Privette doctrine. Under Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689 and the cases that followed it, a company that hires an independent contractor is generally not liable to that contractor’s employees for injuries on the job, on the theory that the hirer delegated responsibility for safety to the contractor. If you worked for a subcontractor and were hurt, the general contractor and the property owner will argue Privette bars your claim against them.
The California Supreme Court has recognized exceptions, and they decide most of these cases:
- Retained control. A hirer that keeps control over the way the work is done, and exercises that control in a way that affirmatively contributes to the injury, can be liable (Hooker v. Department of Transportation (2002) 27 Cal.4th 198). Examples include a general contractor that directs the sequence of work, orders a crew to keep working around a known hazard, or promises to provide fall protection and then does not.
- Concealed hazards. A landowner who knows of a dangerous condition on the property that the contractor could not reasonably discover, and fails to warn, can be liable (Kinsman v. Unocal Corp. (2005) 37 Cal.4th 659).
- Defective equipment supplied by the hirer. A hirer that provides unsafe equipment that contributes to the injury can be liable (McKown v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2002) 27 Cal.4th 219).
In 2021 the Supreme Court tightened these exceptions in Gonzalez v. Mathis (2021) 12 Cal.5th 29 and Sandoval v. Qualcomm Inc. (2021) 12 Cal.5th 256, so the facts have to be developed carefully: who controlled the site, what the subcontract and the site safety plan said, who supplied the equipment, and what the hirer actually did on the day of the injury. Privette does not protect other subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, or drivers, which is why many construction cases end up against those parties.
Types of construction accidents we help with
Falls from heights, scaffolds, and ladders
Falls are the leading cause of construction deaths in California and nationally. Cal/OSHA generally requires fall protection for construction work at heights of six feet or more, and its scaffold and ladder rules (Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations) set requirements for guardrails, planking, tie-ins, ladder placement, and inspection. A fall from a scaffold, a roof edge, a floor opening, or an extension ladder usually points to a missing guardrail, a missing harness anchor, an improperly erected scaffold, or a defective ladder. Which company erected the scaffold, who inspected it, and who supplied the ladder are the questions that identify the third-party defendant.
Falling objects and struck-by injuries
Tools, materials, and debris dropped from above, loads swinging from a crane or forklift, and vehicles moving on the site cause a large share of serious head, spinal, and crush injuries. Toe boards, debris nets, controlled access zones, rigging inspections, and spotters are all required by Cal/OSHA standards in the right circumstances. When a worker for one company is struck by something dropped by another company’s crew, the injured worker has a third-party claim against that other company.
Cranes, forklifts, and heavy equipment
Crane collapses, dropped loads, boom contact with power lines, forklift tip-overs, and workers caught between equipment and fixed objects are among the most severe construction injuries. Cal/OSHA requires certified crane operators, load charts, rigging inspections, and exclusion zones. Liability can rest with the crane or equipment rental company, the operator’s employer, the rigging subcontractor, the general contractor that planned the lift, or the manufacturer of a component that failed. The same Cal/OSHA operator training and load rules apply off the construction site; see our page on forklift injuries in warehouses.
Electrocution and electrical burns
Contact with overhead power lines, energized wiring that was supposed to be locked out, ungrounded tools, and temporary power that was run incorrectly cause electrocutions and severe burns every year. California’s High-Voltage Electrical Safety Orders require minimum clearances from overhead lines (ten feet for lines up to 50,000 volts), and lockout and tagout procedures govern work on energized systems. The utility, the electrical subcontractor, the crane or boom operator, and the general contractor may all share responsibility.
Trench and structure collapses
Cal/OSHA requires a protective system (shoring, shielding, or sloping) for trenches five feet deep or more, a competent person to inspect the excavation, and safe access and egress. A trench collapse is almost always a rules violation by whoever was responsible for the excavation, and a structure collapse usually involves shoring, engineering, or sequencing failures by one or more contractors.
Other construction injuries
Nail gun and power tool injuries, welding burns, chemical and silica exposure, heat illness, work-zone vehicle collisions, and repetitive trauma from years of heavy work all arise on construction sites. Serious cases often involve amputations and crush injuries, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and, in the worst cases, a wrongful death claim by the family. Falls and crush incidents that leave a permanent disability are handled as catastrophic injury cases; see our page on how catastrophic injury damages are proven.
Evidence disappears fast on a construction site
A construction site changes every day. The hazard that hurt you may be framed over, backfilled, or hauled away within a week, and the witnesses may be on a different job across the county within a month. The evidence that separates a workers’ compensation-only case from a significant third-party case includes:
- Photographs and video of the scene, the equipment, and the fall protection (or lack of it) as it existed that day
- The general contractor’s daily logs, incident report, and site safety plan (Injury and Illness Prevention Program)
- The subcontract agreements, which define who controlled what and who was responsible for safety
- Toolbox talk records, training certifications, and equipment inspection logs
- The Cal/OSHA investigation file. Employers must report a serious injury or death to Cal/OSHA within eight hours, and Cal/OSHA citations and standards can be used as evidence of the standard of care in a third-party case
- Rental and maintenance records for cranes, lifts, and scaffolding, and the failed component itself
- Names and contact information for every worker who saw what happened, whatever company they worked for
A preservation letter to every company on the site, sent early, is often the difference between a case that can be proven and one that cannot.
What compensation can include
Through workers’ compensation: all reasonable medical treatment for the injury, temporary disability payments at two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you cannot work (subject to statutory limits), permanent disability compensation based on your rating, a supplemental job displacement voucher for retraining if you cannot return to your job, and death benefits for dependents. Our workers’ compensation attorney page explains each benefit.
Through a third-party lawsuit: full past and future lost earnings (not the partial workers’ compensation rate), loss of earning capacity, all medical expenses, home and vehicle modifications and attendant care for catastrophic injuries, and pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, which California does not cap in an ordinary injury case. California’s pure comparative negligence rule means that if you were partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than eliminated.
A construction worker whose injury keeps them from any regular work for a year or more may also qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, which the firm handles in-house alongside the workers’ compensation claim.
Workers’ compensation benefits for construction workers
The workers’ compensation side of a construction injury has rules of its own, and several of them are specific to the trades. Every California employer must carry coverage, and a licensed contractor cannot hold a license without it (Labor Code section 3700; Business and Professions Code section 7125). Full-time, part-time, temporary and day laborers are all covered, regardless of immigration status (Labor Code section 1171.5). Three rules matter on a job site:
- Unlicensed contractors. A worker hired by an unlicensed contractor to do work that requires a license is that contractor’s employee as a matter of law (Labor Code section 2750.5). If the unlicensed subcontractor has no insurance, the general contractor that hired it is generally treated as the employer for workers’ compensation purposes, and its insurer is responsible for the benefits.
- Uninsured employers. When the employer has no coverage, benefits are paid by the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund, and the worker may also sue the employer in civil court, where the employer’s negligence is presumed (Labor Code sections 3706 through 3716).
- Staffing agencies. A worker placed on a site by a staffing agency is usually an employee of both the agency and the host contractor, and either’s insurer can be required to pay.
Medical treatment. The insurer must provide all treatment reasonably required to cure or relieve the effects of the injury, with no co-pay and no dollar cap (Labor Code section 4600). For construction injuries that regularly means trauma and orthopedic surgery, rehabilitation after fractures and crush injuries, prosthetics and their replacement after an amputation, treatment for traumatic brain injury, burn care, and mental health treatment for the anxiety and depression that follow a serious injury. Treatment normally runs through the employer’s medical provider network and is screened by utilization review; our medical benefits page explains how to get treatment approved and how to appeal a denial.
Temporary disability. When a doctor takes you off work, temporary total disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to the annual state maximum, for up to 104 weeks within five years of the injury; amputations and severe burns are among the conditions that extend the limit to 240 weeks (Labor Code sections 4653 and 4656). Construction wages, overtime and prevailing-wage work all count toward the average weekly wage, so make sure the rate reflects everything you earned, including a second job or seasonal work. If you can do modified work at lower pay, temporary partial disability pays two-thirds of the difference.
Permanent disability and the life pension. Once your condition is permanent and stationary, your impairment is rated and adjusted for occupation and age. Our page on the permanent and stationary stage of a claim explains what the report must say and how to challenge it. Construction occupations carry some of the highest occupational adjustments in the rating schedule, because a back, knee or shoulder impairment limits a laborer, ironworker or roofer more than it limits an office worker. A rating of 70 percent or more carries a life pension, and certain injuries, including loss of both hands and practically total paralysis, are presumed totally disabling (Labor Code sections 4658, 4659 and 4662). Insurers routinely try to apportion part of the disability to prior injuries and wear and tear; that is a medical question a qualified medical evaluator must answer with substantial evidence. See our permanent disability page.
When you cannot return to the trade. If the employer does not offer regular, modified or alternative work within your restrictions, you receive a $6,000 supplemental job displacement voucher for retraining, education, licensing and tools (Labor Code section 4658.7) and can apply for the state’s $5,000 return-to-work supplement (Labor Code section 139.48).
Death benefits. When a construction worker is killed on the job, the spouse, children and other dependents receive death benefits paid at the temporary disability rate up to the statutory totals for one, two, or three or more dependents, plus burial expenses (Labor Code sections 4701 and 4702). The family may also have a wrongful death lawsuit against any third party responsible for the accident.
Cumulative trauma and occupational disease. Years of lifting, kneeling, tool vibration and overhead work produce back, knee, shoulder and hand conditions that are covered as cumulative trauma. Exposure produces occupational disease: silicosis among countertop fabricators and concrete cutters, asbestos-related disease, lead exposure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, skin disease, noise-induced hearing loss and heat illness. These claims have their own date-of-injury rule, which starts the one-year deadline when you first have disability and know the condition is work related (Labor Code section 5412), and liability is spread among the employers during the last year of injurious exposure (Labor Code section 5500.5).
What workers’ compensation does not pay. It pays no damages for pain and suffering, replaces only part of lost wages, and pays nothing for a spouse’s loss of consortium. Those damages are recovered, when at all, in the third-party lawsuit described above, and the comp carrier is reimbursed from that recovery and takes a credit against future benefits (Labor Code sections 3856 and 3861), so the two claims must be handled together.
What to do after a construction accident. Get medical care and tell the doctor it happened at work and how. Report the injury to your employer in writing and ask for the DWC-1 claim form. Photograph the scene, the equipment and your injuries before anything is repaired or removed, and get the names of coworkers who saw it. Keep every pay stub, because construction wages set the benefit rate. Do not sign a release or accept a settlement from anyone until the claim, the third-party case and future medical care have all been evaluated.
California deadlines
- Report the injury to your employer within 30 days (Labor Code section 5400). Late reporting can jeopardize benefits.
- One year to file the workers’ compensation claim (Labor Code section 5405), with exceptions for injuries discovered later and for cumulative trauma.
- Two years from the injury to file a third-party lawsuit, including a product liability claim (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1); two years from the death for a wrongful death claim.
- Six months to present a written government claim if a public entity is involved (Government Code section 911.2). Public works projects, road and rail work, and school and hospital construction often involve one.
- A petition under Labor Code section 132a within one year if your employer fires or punishes you for making a workers’ compensation claim.
Exceptions can extend or shorten these deadlines. The only reliable way to know yours is to have an attorney confirm it, and the evidence disappears long before any deadline arrives.
Your immigration status does not matter
California law protects injured workers regardless of immigration status (Labor Code section 1171.5). Undocumented construction workers have the same right to workers’ compensation benefits and to third-party compensation, and your consultation is confidential.
Frequently asked questions
I am already getting workers’ comp. Can I still sue? Yes. Workers’ compensation covers you against your employer; Labor Code section 3852 lets you pursue anyone else who was responsible. The two claims interact through the carrier’s lien and credit, so get advice before settling either one.
Can I sue the general contractor? Sometimes. The Privette doctrine protects a hirer that fully delegated safety to your employer, but not one that retained control and contributed to the injury, concealed a hazard, or supplied defective equipment. The subcontract, the safety plan, and what the general contractor actually did on site decide it.
A worker from another company caused my injury. Do I have a case? Usually yes. Another subcontractor and its employees are third parties, and the exclusive remedy rule does not protect them.
A coworker at my own company caused it. Coworkers are generally protected by the same exclusive remedy rule as the employer (Labor Code section 3601), unless the coworker was intoxicated or committed a willful assault. Your workers’ compensation claim still covers the injury.
I was paid as a 1099 contractor. Am I covered? Possibly. Many construction workers labeled as independent contractors are employees under California law, and an unlicensed worker doing work that requires a contractor’s license is presumed to be an employee (Labor Code section 2750.5). If you were truly independent, you have no workers’ compensation claim against the hirer, but you can sue any party whose negligence caused the injury.
The accident was partly my fault. Do I still have a case? Usually yes. Workers’ compensation does not depend on fault at all, and in a third-party lawsuit California’s comparative negligence rule reduces your recovery by your share of fault rather than eliminating it.
My employer has no workers’ comp insurance. Now what? That is illegal, and it expands your rights: Labor Code section 3706 lets you sue the uninsured employer directly, and the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund can pay your workers’ compensation benefits.
I was paid cash by a contractor with no license. Am I covered? Yes. You are the contractor’s employee by law (Labor Code section 2750.5), and if the contractor has no insurance, the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund and, in many cases, the contractor that hired the unlicensed contractor are responsible for your benefits.
Does workers’ compensation pay for a prosthetic and its replacement? Yes. Prosthetics, their repair and replacement, and the training to use them are medical treatment under Labor Code section 4600.
What is my case worth? It depends on your injuries, your wages, your fault share, and which other parties are responsible and insured. Nobody can quote a number honestly without your records. Workers’ compensation alone is limited by statute; the third-party case is usually where the value of a serious construction injury lies.
What does it cost? No attorney fee up front. Third-party injury cases are handled on a contingency fee, so the fee comes out of the recovery and there is no attorney fee if there is no recovery. In workers’ compensation cases, attorney fees are set and approved by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.
Call now: (888) 772-2529. Hablamos español. You can also fill out the contact form and we will call you.
Reviewed by Shawn Abdi, Esq., Abdi & Associates, Inc. Last reviewed: September 4, 2026.
Attorney advertising. This page is general information, not legal advice about your specific situation. Legal deadlines have exceptions, confirm yours with an attorney. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Related pages: our workers’ compensation attorney page explains each benefit in more detail, our work injury lawyer page covers non-construction workplace injuries, and our personal injury overview covers other injury claims. En español: abogado de accidente de trabajo.